nolando Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 Saw him providing some commentary for TSN's EURO 2004 preview show. Looked pretty nervous and frankly provided little of interest or anything that even a casual soccer observer wouldn't have said. Soft-spoken guy- hopefully they were just opening night jitters. Oh, and they way they introduced him and talked about his pro and MNT career was most definitely in the PAST tense. I guess he's done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
strobe_z Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 Yeah.. he looked a bit nervous. He's obviously more used to talking about his own team (as any good player would).. when talking about Spain he said "we'll need him to advance" (paraphrase). Vic then asked him if he'd suddenly turned Spanish.. I think he'll be much better once things get rolling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachesl Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 It was a Preview show...why didn't they reshoot the commentary to cover over the gaffes? They owed Fletcher a chance to start off well. At least when he gets rolling, he will be refreshingly genuine, especially when describing the fresh play with enthusiasm. I've always found Vic and Dick a bit phony, like used car ( sorry... "previously enjoyed vehicles" ) salesmen, and they sure didn't riverbed it for Carl. And who (?) does the research: Vic said 10 Billion will be watching worldwide, the total population of the world is 6.3 Billion. 10 Billion could be the number of people turning in separately to each game. Also, they said that Spain was ousted in the semi-finals in the last WC, it was the quarter-finals, and it was Sweden that finished third in 1992 (not Bulgaria) ...again it is understandable if it was a quick mistake, but all of Vic's comments were scripted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayWay Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 quote:Originally posted by beachesl , and it was Sweden that finished third in 1992 (not Bulgaria) ...again it is understandable if it was a quick mistake, but all of Vic's comments were scripted. Was that not in reference to the 1994 World Cup? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJT Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 quote:Originally posted by JayWay Was that not in reference to the 1994 World Cup?Yes, that's probably what beachesl meant. Sweden was third at the 1994 WC and Bulgaria was fourth, but Vic said Bulgaria was third. I only saw the preview of that one group. I thought it was useful only for those people who watch European soccer every two years... and even then, with those errors... [|)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snake Posted June 10, 2004 Share Posted June 10, 2004 he was like a deer in the headlights Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe Concacaf Posted June 11, 2004 Share Posted June 11, 2004 lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolando Posted June 13, 2004 Author Share Posted June 13, 2004 Still horrible today, poor bugger! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peschfan Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 I dont mind, him he just needs to sound more sure of what he is saying. Was happy to hear both Carl and Dick wish both National teams well, The U-19's and the Men for the World Cup Qualifying. Cant wait, it will be great to go to a home national team game. 4 years is to long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peschfan Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 I dont mind, him he just needs to sound more sure of what he is saying. Was happy to hear both Carl and Dick wish both National teams well, The U-19's and the Men for the World Cup Qualifying. Cant wait, it will be great to go to a home national team game. 4 years is to long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted June 13, 2004 Share Posted June 13, 2004 I could forgive a bit of nervousness but he doesn't seem to say anything remotely interesting or insightful unlike Forrest. Maybe this is because he hasn't played at the high level necessary to provide such commentary. I am not very hopeful this will change when he is more comfortable on tv. With all respect to his efforts as national team player, maybe he is not cut out to be a commentator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nolando Posted June 14, 2004 Author Share Posted June 14, 2004 Totally agree, Grizzly! A couple of friendlies on Shaw wouldn't hurt his skills but you don't start a guy out on a major tourney like EURO 2004. Forrest was great as usual, and only served to reinforce the Fletcher complaints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Man Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 Thank god for the fact that tsn is going with the host broadcasters play by play men. And not Vic and Craig. I just wish they'd stick with host's half time slot as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Joe05 Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 Apparently, Carl was one of the quietest nats when he played. Sort of a surprising choice to be an analyst Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachesl Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 Well, I think he is okay. To me he is a nice change to the other two. I think that Dick Howard makes him nervous I find Dick rather creepy, especially the way he has touched Carl's hands). He was better today when he was specifically asked questions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beachesl Posted June 14, 2004 Share Posted June 14, 2004 [ I think that we should give Carl a chance, because he really is earnest. He sounds like he hung around a lot of Ital-Canadians, because he sounds a bit like (not as bad) those guys on Soccer Fanatics on TLN. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knibbyson Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 Yeah what IS up with Dick always touching Carl's hand? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JayWay Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 quote:Originally posted by knibbyson Yeah what IS up with Dick always touching Carl's hand? For the love of God (for the love of Carl!), reprhase that. NOW! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
knibbyson Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 So Carl, why is it that your co host insists on touching your hand? (sorry bout that) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robo Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 Carl is a nightmare. Why couldn't TSN hire someone with some technical knowledge on soccer....and a stale personality as well. TSN should have hired one of the following: -Bobby Lendarduzi (personal fav...lots of interesting things to say) -Holger -Bruce Wilson -Peschisolido -Rick Titus -Any of the CSA coaching staff I can't believe that "Fletch" has actually commented on air......"I don't know what to say?" during the England game. THAT IS YOUR JOB FLETCH. Own goal by TSN on this one Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mimglow Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 quote:Originally posted by Robo Carl is a nightmare. Why couldn't TSN hire someone with some technical knowledge on soccer....and a stale personality as well. TSN should have hired one of the following: -Bobby Lendarduzi (personal fav...lots of interesting things to say) -Holger -Bruce Wilson -Peschisolido -Rick Titus -Any of the CSA coaching staff I can't believe that "Fletch" has actually commented on air......"I don't know what to say?" during the England game. THAT IS YOUR JOB FLETCH. Own goal by TSN on this one Pesch is a little busy right now...I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt and interpret "Bobby Lenarduzzi" as humor. Carl was MUCH improved today. He's obviously getting some coaching. If he continues to improve, he should be alright at the end of the tourney. As someone here has already said, Craig Forrest was brutal his first few days, and listen to how good he is now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Georgio Posted June 15, 2004 Share Posted June 15, 2004 It seems that people wanted Craig to succeed by saying give him time whereas most people are trashing Carl. I didn't have a clue what to do on my first week at my job, and I went to school to prepare for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BC supporter Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 I agree about giving Fletcher a chance. You have to learn somewhere. But I'd make two points: 1) Normally you'd expect a sports network to hire someone as an analyst who has an outgoing personality. That doesn't appear to be Fletcher. 2) You'd expect TSN to provide some sort of training. I don't mean calling Fletcher in and telling him where to sit and that he needs to speak when the red light's on him. I'm talking about some training sessions where he practices and gets evaluated on his work (interplay with the host, quality and length of answers, etc). So it's natural to expect the analyst will be a little better prepared than Fletcher has come across. On the other hand, I don't think Craig Forrest was any great shakes at the beginning (too many comments along the lines of "they'll need to play well to get a result"). Forrest's improvement is clear and hopefully Fletcher will get better as he gets more comfortable. I expect that to be the case. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheeta Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 Kinda thought this whole Euro 2004 gig was Carl's training. Yeah, painful right now. But BC Supporter's right, Craig blew big time at first but found his feet soon enough and has improved with every broadcast since. Don't know if Carl's got it in him for television. Bully of him to give it a try, though. Probably could work within a team setting like he is right now. Hard to guess. We'll know more in a couple of weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grizzly Posted June 16, 2004 Share Posted June 16, 2004 I think a big difference between Craig and Carl is that Craig was one of the best Canadian players of all time who played high level club soccer for many years. Carl was a fringe national team player who never reached a high level of club play. At the moment I am not sensing the level of insight and knowledge from Carl that Craig has regardless of the delivery (and he is commentating on top level soccer not A-league). Maybe he will get better but if I was TSN and was looking for a commentator, he wouldn't have been someone that immediately came to mind even if I narrowed the candidates to former Canadian national team members. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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